The bureaucracy of blindness is nothing new

[kestrell]

I have a rant/comedy routine in which I attempt to describe to people the insanity of having to provide quote proof of blindness unquote in order to receive services, despite the fact that I have prosthetic eyes, but I hadn't heard before that, even if one is goddamn Horatio Nelson, the bureaucracy might keep insisting that you weren't really blind
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1481516/Nelson-didnt-wear-eye-patch-says-historian.html

I'm still trying to find documentation regarding the time a superior officer was giving Nelson a signal to disengage from battle, and Nelson held his telescope to his blind eye so he could later claim he didn't see anything. Now that I think on it, there's probably a reason blind people don't get told these stories.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

I’m shocked that you haven’t gone to the Mass Commission and placed your eyes on the counter.

Because that,s totally something you’d do.

[kestrell]

Don't think I haven't made the offer, but that tends to make the gatekeepers *completely bugfuck*--like they've never seen somebody strip off body parts.

Also, removing your eyeballs does not count as proof--only paper is proof.

[duskpeterson]

Reminds me of the moment when I realized that the entire system of services for the blind in my state was paternalism personified: when I discovered I'd have to have some stranger who didn't know me certify that I needed certain accessible equipment to do my professional work. The stranger's qualification? They were an expert in visual impairment, so obviously that made them qualified to know what sort of equipment was needed by a professional, full-time writer.

[kestrell]

Ah, yes, and ifyou disagree with anyof their decisions, then you obviously either don't understand your disability, or you are in denialand if you choose to opt out of services, then you have psychological issues, and all of this from people for whom you have to keep pausing to define words, terms, and technologies. I really worry about how many people aren't getting desperately needed services just bcause they services system is so demeaning, and let's mention, the constant violations of privacy (more like, what privacy?).